Wednesday, June 9, 2010

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 5 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 6 7 8 9 10 ALBANY, NEW YORK 11 June 9, 2010 12 3:53 p.m. 13 14 15 REGULAR SESSION 16 17 18 19 SENATOR DAVID J. VALESKY, Acting President 20 ANGELO J. APONTE, Secretary 21 22 23 24 25

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 3 Senate will please come to order. 4 I ask everyone to please rise and 5 recite with me the Pledge of Allegiance. 6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 9 Reverend Peter G. Young, of Mother Teresa 10 Community here in Albany, is with us this 11 afternoon to offer an invocation. 12 Father? 13 REVEREND YOUNG: Thank you, 14 Senator. 15 Let us pray. Today we host our 16 guests from India, from the home area of 17 Gandhi, and he was a leader of hope and mercy. 18 We need examples too, in our financially 19 difficult times, so our Senators can be agents 20 of mercy. 21 We can remember instances when we 22 needed a little mercy. Maybe we needed an 23 extension on a project. Maybe we needed a 24 loan. Maybe, as is often the case, we needed 25 forgiveness from someone whom we had hurt.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Remember the sigh of relief when we received 2 the mercy that was granted and the grief and 3 disappointment when we had mercy denied. 4 O merciful God, You give us what we 5 need and constantly forgive us. Now grant us 6 the will to be gracious and generous in mercy 7 toward all of our citizens in New York State. 8 May we be known as Senators of mercy and of 9 forgiveness. 10 Amen. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 12 reading of the Journal. 13 The Secretary will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 15 Tuesday, June 8, 2010, the Senate met pursuant 16 to adjournment. The Journal of Monday, 17 June 7, 2010, was read and approved. On 18 motion, Senate adjourned. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 20 Without objection, the Journal stands approved 21 as read. 22 Presentation of petitions. 23 Messages from the Assembly. 24 Messages from the Governor. 25 Reports of standing committees.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Reports of select committees. 2 Communications and reports from 3 state officers. 4 Motions and resolutions. 5 Senator Klein. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 7 believe there are substitutions at the desk. 8 I ask that we make these substitutions at this 9 time. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 11 Secretary will proceed with the reading of the 12 substitutions. 13 THE SECRETARY: Page number 36, 14 Senator Griffo moves to discharge, from the 15 Committee on Codes, Assembly Bill Number 1067A 16 and substitute it for the identical Senate 17 Bill Number 1989A, Third Reading Calendar 494. 18 Page number 41, Senator Sampson 19 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 20 Housing, Construction and Community 21 Development, Assembly Bill Number 10226 and 22 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 23 Number 7139, Third Reading Calendar 606. 24 Page number 51, Senator Oppenheimer 25 moves to discharge, from the Committee on

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Local Government, Assembly Bill Number 10869 2 and substitute it for the identical Senate 3 Bill Number 7677, Third Reading Calendar 738. 4 Page number 52, Senator Parker 5 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 6 Veterans, Homeland Security and Military 7 Affairs, Assembly Bill Number 520 and 8 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 9 Number 5926, Third Reading Calendar 743. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 11 Substitutions ordered. 12 Senator Klein. 13 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 14 this time I wish to recall Senate Resolution 15 Number 4106, by Senator DeFrancisco, which was 16 unanimously adopted on March 9th. I ask that 17 the title of the resolution be read and allow 18 Senator DeFrancisco to speak on his 19 resolution. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 21 Secretary will place the resolution before the 22 house. 23 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 24 DeFrancisco, Legislative Resolution 4106, 25 honoring the Baldwinsville Marching Band upon

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the occasion of capturing the New York State 2 Field Band Competition Championship. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 4 Senator DeFrancisco, on the resolution. 5 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I have 6 this lovely group, this wonderful group up 7 here from my district, the Baldwinsville 8 Marching Band, the New York State champions, 9 all of whom are excellent students as well. 10 They certified that to me earlier. And 11 especially the creme de la creme are the 12 saxophone players in this group, the woodwind 13 players, because we have a bond. 14 But in all seriousness, it's a 15 wonderful accomplishment to win a state 16 championship, and especially in such an area 17 as a band competition, because that takes real 18 teamwork and hours upon hours of practice to 19 make it sound right. 20 And I really commend all of you, 21 and I hope that you enjoyed your day in 22 Albany. We haven't read the resolution 23 because of the hour. However, each of you 24 will receive a copy of the resolution and you 25 can read it in your idle time after you read

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 extra materials rather than your schoolwork. 2 And then you will be getting a double win from 3 this visit here today. 4 So congratulations and have a great 5 rest of the year and a great future. 6 Thank you. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 8 you, Senator DeFrancisco. 9 The resolution was previously 10 adopted. 11 Congratulations to the New York 12 State champion Baldwinsville Bees Marching 13 Band. 14 (Applause.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 16 Senator Klein. 17 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 18 can you please recognize Senator Ruth 19 Hassell-Thompson for an announcement. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 21 Senator Hassell-Thompson. 22 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 23 you, Mr. President. 24 I rise to ask my colleagues to 25 welcome to the chambers of the New York State

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senate the Ohio Youth Civic Leadership 2 Academy, who are here with us from Canton, 3 Ohio, and who are here with teachers and 4 leaders from the NAACP and other 5 organizations. They have been shadowing 6 members of the Senate today. 7 And I would like to invite them and 8 their leaders to just stand and be recognized. 9 Some of our students -- please forgive me, and 10 don't laugh if I mispronounce a student's 11 name -- Sommer Brobst, Dalila Carter, Natalie 12 Cheatwood, Mercedes Conethan, Andrea Dunn, 13 Chantel Faulkner, Xavier Gibson, Pertrice 14 Ingram, Darijah McCollum, Janay McCullough, 15 Dashe Long, Ray Long, Jheri Morgan, Mikayla 16 Morgan, Makayla Richards, Miles Smith, Jr., 17 Shaquille Woods, Aaliyah Young, and Tyrique 18 Key. These are our students that are 19 visitings us today. 20 And I would like to offer the 21 opportunity possible to Senator Adams, who 22 cosponsored this shadow activity with me 23 today, to also add to the welcome to our 24 students. 25 And thank them and their leadership

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 for coming and for being with us and for 2 shadowing and watching the way in which the 3 New York State Senate is in operation. And 4 welcome again. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 6 you, Senator Hassell-Thompson. 7 Senator Adams. 8 SENATOR ADAMS: Senator Breslin 9 is going through the role of being Senator 10 Adams today, so I'm sitting next to him. 11 You know, I want to thank Mark 12 Favors. He's up on top. This is a great 13 program that he's putting together of these 14 young, intelligent, energetic young people who 15 are adorning our Senate chamber today. And 16 they traveled from Ohio to see how the process 17 operates and see how our seat of government 18 actually goes about carrying out laws. 19 And when you sit down and you speak 20 with them and you talk with them, there is a 21 question mark that lingers over, you know, 22 what our future looks like; you know, what is 23 going to happen to our tomorrows. There's a 24 question mark over what the country will be in 25 the future. There's a question mark over some

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 of the ills that impact our society. 2 And when you talk to them, the 3 question of how will we be turns into an 4 exclamation point of saying we will be fine, 5 because they understand what is needed in our 6 country to make sure they move this country 7 forward. 8 The winds of change have never been 9 blown by adults, it has all been blown by 10 young people. They've always had the lung 11 capacity to blow the country in a direction 12 that they would like it to go in. And it 13 doesn't matter of their ethnicity, it doesn't 14 matter of their religious belief, their 15 genders. It's all about making sure they have 16 the opportunity to go beyond what's in front 17 of them. 18 I tell them all the time, don't 19 embody the anti-Christopher Columbus theory, 20 believing if you leave your block, if you 21 leave your neighborhood, if you leave Ohio, 22 you're going to fall off some philosophical 23 globe. You're not. The world is round. 24 Their hopes should be round. They're 25 competing with people all across the globe.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 It's not only about Brooklyn, but it's about 2 Belgium. It's not about merely 3 Bedford-Stuyvesant, it's about Budapest. 4 This is our global future. 5 American students and young people shape the 6 globe. The way America goes, so goes the 7 globe. And so something as simple as putting 8 the belt on your pants to treating each other 9 with respect -- if our young people can't 10 navigate the belt loops on their pants, they 11 can never navigate corporate America. If they 12 can't be kind to each other, then they won't 13 be kind to their neighbors. 14 And when you speak to those young 15 people who have visited us today, you get the 16 inspiration that no matter how challenging 17 things may be, they understand the challenges 18 before them. And like many young people that 19 came before them, they are going to stand up 20 to the challenge. 21 And I wish them the best. I thank 22 them for coming here. We learn more from you 23 than you do from us when you visit us and have 24 a one-on-one engagement. Sometimes, because 25 we in this room are 62 men and women, we often

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 forget the very real issues we're there for. 2 And so when you visit us, it helps us to stay 3 focused, it helps us to stay grounded and 4 understand what are our responsibilities and 5 obligations. 6 Mr. Favors, I really appreciate 7 what you do. He does this on his own. He 8 volunteers to take these young people, he and 9 his team, they volunteer to take those young 10 people here to Albany. God knows no one comes 11 to Albany unless they have to. And the mere 12 fact that you do this with your own money, 13 your own proceeds. 14 There's no excuse for failure. 15 Yes, the budget is bad. Yes, we have to do 16 cuts. Yes, we don't have all the revenue that 17 we would like. But you know what? It has 18 been bad before. We've come out of the bowels 19 of depression. We've come out of the bowels 20 of economic turmoil. We've come out of the 21 bowels of slavery. We've come out of the 22 bowels of all these things. Our young people 23 need to know no matter how bad the conditions 24 are, you can't be bad on yourself. 25 And, Mr. Favors, you're the spirit

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 of what's great about this country, of giving 2 back and contributing back to our young 3 people. People talk the talk; you walk the 4 walk. And we are proud to be a member of the 5 greatest race alive, and that's the human 6 race. 7 And we thank you, Mr. Favors, and 8 we thank the young people that have come into 9 the chambers today. 10 (Applause.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 12 you, Senator Adams. 13 Senator Marcellino. 14 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. 16 I'd just like to thank Senator 17 DeFrancisco, Senator Hassell-Thompson, and 18 Senator Adams for bringing to this chamber 19 young people of positive accomplishments. Too 20 often we read in the papers, we listen to on 21 the radio, we see in the electronic media 22 young people in a negative picture, in a 23 negative impulse. 24 We have young people as our interns 25 and staff around this chamber. We don't see

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that very much, we don't see that broadcast. 2 All we read about is young people when they 3 get into serious trouble, when they do 4 something wrong. That seems to be the 5 preponderance of the media coverage of the 6 youth of our nation and the youth of the 7 world. 8 And I think what we've done today, 9 thanks to the Senators who have brought these 10 young people here today, is show that there is 11 another side. And for those people who have a 12 tendency to get down on the younger generation 13 and say, "Oh, my God, what's the world coming 14 to," well, we've just got to look up in the 15 chamber and up in the galleries today, because 16 we see a very positive picture. And the 17 future is a good one, and the future is a 18 bright one. 19 And Senator Adams, yeah, we may 20 have a miserable budget and we may have some 21 rotten times ahead for a while, but you're 22 perfectly correct. This country, this state, 23 this area has gone through bad times before. 24 We will come out of it, and we will do very 25 well. And it will be thanks to people like

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the ones we're celebrating this afternoon. 2 Thank you very much for bringing 3 these young people to our attention and to the 4 nation's attention. Thank you. 5 (Applause.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 7 you, Senator Marcellino. 8 A very special welcome to our 9 guests from Canton, Ohio. We hope you enjoy 10 your visit to the New York State Capitol. 11 Senator Klein. 12 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 13 believe Senator Sampson has another resolution 14 at the desk. I ask that the title of the 15 resolution be read and move for its immediate 16 adoption. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 18 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 19 privileged and submitted by the office of the 20 Temporary President? 21 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 22 Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 Secretary will read. 25 THE SECRETARY: By Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Sampson, legislative resolution commending the 2 West Indian American Day Carnival Association 3 upon the occasion of hosting its 2010 4 celebration of "Carnival: A West Indian 5 Experience -- People, Culture, Music." 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: All 7 those in favor please signify by saying aye. 8 (Response of "Aye.") 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 10 Opposed, nay. 11 (No response.) 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 13 resolution is adopted. 14 Senator Sampson is opening the 15 resolution to cosponsorship. Any Senator 16 wishing not to cosponsor the resolution should 17 notify the desk. 18 Senator Klein. 19 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 20 believe there's a resolution at the desk by 21 Senator Smith. I ask that the title of the 22 resolution be read and move for its immediate 23 adoption. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 25 Senator Klein, has this resolution been

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 privileged and submitted by the office of the 2 Temporary President? 3 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 4 Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 6 Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Smith, 8 legislative resolution honoring Principal 9 Ericka K. Wala upon the occasion of her 10 designation for special recognition by 11 Peninsula Preparatory Academy at its 2010 12 Unsung Heroes Awards Banquet. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: All 14 those in favor of adopting the resolution 15 signify by saying aye. 16 (Response of "Aye.") 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 18 Opposed, nay. 19 (No response.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 21 resolution is adopted. 22 Senator Klein. 23 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 24 believe there's a resolution at the desk by 25 Senator Carl Kruger. I ask that the title of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the resolution be read and move for its 2 immediate adoption. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 4 Senator Klein, has that resolution been deemed 5 privileged and submitted by the office of the 6 Temporary President? 7 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 8 Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 10 Secretary will read. 11 THE SECRETARY: By Senator C. 12 Kruger, legislative resolution commending 13 Monita Buchwald upon the occasion of her 14 designation by the Metropolitan Council on 15 Jewish Poverty as the recipient of the Chesed 16 Award at its 34th Annual Legislative Breakfast 17 on June 13, 2010. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: All in 19 favor of adopting the resolution signify by 20 saying aye. 21 (Response of "Aye.") 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 23 Opposed, nay. 24 (No response.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 resolution is adopted. 2 Senator Klein. 3 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 4 believe Senator Carl Kruger has another 5 resolution at the desk. I ask that the title 6 of the resolution be read and move for its 7 immediate adoption. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 9 Senator Klein, has this resolution been 10 privileged and submitted by the office of the 11 Temporary President? 12 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 13 Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 15 Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Carl 17 Kruger, legislative resolution commending 18 Rabbi Yechezkel Pikus upon the occasion of his 19 designation by the Metropolitan Council on 20 Jewish Poverty as the recipient of the Shimon 21 Zweig Memorial Award at its 34th Annual 22 Legislative Breakfast on June 13, 2010. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: All in 24 favor of adopting the resolution signify by 25 saying aye.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (Response of "Aye.") 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 3 Opposed, nay. 4 (No response.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 6 resolution is adopted. 7 Senator Klein. 8 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 9 believe Senator Breslin has a resolution at 10 the desk. I ask that the title of the 11 resolution be read and move for its immediate 12 adoption. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 14 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 15 privileged and submitted by the office of the 16 Temporary President? 17 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 18 Mr. President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 20 Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: By Senators 22 Breslin and Duane, legislative resolution 23 commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the 24 Capital District Gay and Lesbian Community 25 Council, to be celebrated on Sunday, June 13,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 2010. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: All 3 those in favor of adopting the resolution 4 signify by saying aye. 5 (Response of "Aye.") 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 7 Opposed, nay. 8 (No response.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 10 resolution is adopted. 11 Senator Breslin has asked that the 12 resolution be opened for cosponsorship. Any 13 Senator wishing not to cosponsor this 14 resolution should notify the desk. 15 Senator Klein. 16 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 17 believe that Senator Dilan has a resolution at 18 the desk. I ask that the title of the 19 resolution be read and move for its immediate 20 adoption. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 22 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 23 privileged and submitted by the office of the 24 Temporary President? 25 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 3 Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Dilan, 5 legislative resolution recognizing the PSA 6 Voto Latino 2010 New York Census Project and 7 the efforts of those who have made a reality. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 9 question is on the resolution. All in favor 10 signify by saying aye. 11 (Response of "Aye.") 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 13 Opposed, nay. 14 (No response.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 16 resolution is adopted. 17 Senator Dilan has offered to open 18 the resolution to cosponsorship. Any Senator 19 wishing not to cosponsor the resolution should 20 notify the desk. 21 Senator Klein. 22 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 23 believe Senator Skelos has a resolution at the 24 desk. I ask that the title of the resolution 25 be read and move for its immediate adoption.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 2 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 3 privileged and submitted by the office of the 4 Temporary President? 5 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 6 Mr. President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 8 Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 10 Skelos, legislative resolution honoring Jolene 11 Boden upon the occasion of her designation as 12 recipient of the Leadership Award from Beth 13 Shalom/Oceanside Jewish Center. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 15 question is on the resolution. All in favor 16 signify by saying aye. 17 (Response of "Aye.") 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 19 Opposed, nay. 20 (No response.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 22 resolution is adopted. 23 Senator Klein. 24 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 25 believe Senator Alesi has a resolution at the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 desk. I ask that the title of the resolution 2 be read and move for its immediate adoption. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 4 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 5 privileged and submitted by the office of the 6 Temporary President? 7 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 8 Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 10 Secretary will read. 11 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Alesi, 12 legislative resolution commending Genesee 13 Valley Club upon the occasion of celebrating 14 its 125th Anniversary on June 10, 2010. 15 SENATOR PADAVAN: The question is 16 on the resolution. All in favor signify by 17 saying aye. 18 (Response of "Aye.") 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 20 Opposed, nay. 21 (No response.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 23 resolution is adopted. 24 Senator Klein. 25 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 this time I move we adopt the Resolution 2 Calendar in its entirety, with the exception 3 of Senate Resolution 5880. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: All in 5 favor of adopting the Resolution Calendar in 6 its entirety, with the exception of Resolution 7 5880, signify by saying aye. 8 (Response of "Aye.") 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 10 Opposed, nay. 11 (No response.) 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 13 Resolution Calendar is adopted. 14 Senator Klein. 15 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 16 move that we take up Senate Resolution 5880, 17 by Senator Stavisky. I ask that the title of 18 the resolution be read and move for its 19 immediate adoption. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 21 Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 23 Stavisky, Legislative Resolution 5880, 24 commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 25 establishment of the State of Gujarat, to be

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 celebrated June 1, 2010. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 3 Senator Stavisky on the resolution. 4 SENATOR STAVISKY: On the 5 resolution, Mr. President. 6 We are here to congratulate the 7 State of Gujarat, which is celebrating its 8 50th jubilee anniversary. 9 It was formed 50 years ago from the 10 17 northern states or the 17 northern -- 11 formerly the District of Bombay. There are 12 approximately a quarter of a million residents 13 from that state in New York, living in 14 New York State right now. And in fact it's 15 the largest immigrant community from India. 16 And as Father Young said earlier, 17 Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most revered 18 figures not just from India but throughout the 19 world, with his policy of nonviolence. 20 Many of the people have settled in 21 Queens, and we have a group in the chamber 22 from Gujarat, the Gujarati, and they represent 23 a rich cultural heritage. Living in Queens, 24 they continue many of the traditions that they 25 brought with them, and yet they are a very

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 important part of our community. 2 And in fact, in an area that I 3 represent in downtown Flushing, 350 years ago 4 we celebrated the Flushing Remonstrance, the 5 birthplace of religious freedom here in the 6 United States. So going back 350 years to the 7 present time, they have brought with them an 8 enrichment of our history, and I'm delighted 9 to welcome them. 10 They are led by their leader, Dilip 11 Choudhan. Welcome. 12 Thank you, Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 14 you, Senator Stavisky. 15 A special welcome to our visitors 16 today from the State of Gujarat, and 17 congratulations on the 50th anniversary of the 18 establishment of your state. 19 (Applause.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 21 question is on the resolution. All those in 22 favor please signify by saying aye. 23 (Response of "Aye.") 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 25 Opposed, nay.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (No response.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 3 resolution is adopted. 4 Senator Klein. 5 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 6 have several motions. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: You 8 may proceed, Senator Klein. 9 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, on 10 behalf of Senator Foley, I wish to call up 11 Print Number 6459, recalled from the Assembly, 12 which is now at the desk. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 14 Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 138, by Senator Foley, Senate Print 6459, an 17 act to amend the Highway Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 19 Senator Klein. 20 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 21 now move to reconsider the vote by which this 22 bill was passed. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 Secretary will call the roll on 25 reconsideration.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 3 Senator Klein. 4 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 5 now offer the following amendments. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 7 amendments are received. 8 Senator Klein. 9 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, on 10 behalf of Senator Squadron, I wish to call up 11 Calendar Number 532, Assembly Print Number 12 1730C. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 14 Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 532, by Assemblyman Brodsky, Assembly Print 17 Number 1730C, an act to amend the General 18 Business Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 20 Senator Klein. 21 SENATOR KLEIN: I now move to 22 reconsider the vote by which this bill was 23 substituted for Senate bill 4313B on May 18th. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 25 Secretary will call the roll on

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 reconsideration. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 5 bill is before the house. 6 Senator Klein. 7 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 8 now move that Assembly Bill Number 1730C be 9 recommitted to the Committee on Consumer 10 Protection and the Senate bill be restored to 11 the order of Third Reading Calendar. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: So 13 ordered. 14 Senator Klein. 15 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 16 now offer the following amendments. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 18 amendments are received. 19 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, on 20 behalf of Senator Breslin, I wish to call up 21 Print Number 4767A, recalled from the 22 Assembly, which is now at the desk. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 Secretary will read. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 37, by Senator Breslin, Senate Print 4767A, an 2 act to amend the Insurance Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 4 Senator Klein. 5 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 6 now move to reconsider the vote by which this 7 bill was passed. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 9 Secretary will call the roll on 10 reconsideration. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 14 Senator Klein. 15 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 16 now offer the following amendments. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 18 amendments are received. 19 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 20 wish to call up Senate Print Number 4634, on 21 behalf of Senator Oppenheimer, recalled from 22 the Assembly, which is now at the desk. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 Secretary will read. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 242, by Senator Oppenheimer, Senate Print 2 4634, an act to amend the Education Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 4 Senator Klein. 5 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 6 now move to reconsider the vote by which this 7 bill was passed. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 9 Secretary will call the roll on 10 reconsideration. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 14 bill is before the house. 15 Senator Klein. 16 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 17 now offer the following amendments. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 19 amendments are received. 20 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, on 21 behalf of Senator Addabbo, on page number 43 I 22 offer the following amendments to Calendar 23 Number 635, Senate Print Number 5442A, and ask 24 that said bill retain its place on Third 25 Reading Calendar.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 2 amendments are received. 3 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, on 4 behalf of Senator Stavisky I move to recommit 5 Senate Print Number 1375B, Calendar Number 6 637, to the Committee on Elections, with 7 instructions to said committee to strike out 8 the enacting clause. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: So 10 ordered. 11 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 At this time, Mr. President, can we 14 please go to a meeting of the Rules Committee 15 in the Majority Conference Room. 16 Pending the return of the Rules 17 Committee, may we please stand at ease. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: An 19 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in 20 Room 332 of the Capitol. 21 Pending the return of the Rules 22 Committee, the Senate will stand at ease. 23 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 24 ease at 4:20 p.m.) 25 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 at 4:38 p.m.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 3 Senator Klein. 4 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 5 believe there's a report of the Rules 6 Committee at the desk. I move we adopt the 7 report at this time. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: There 9 is a report of the Rules Committee at the 10 desk. 11 The Secretary will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: Senator Smith 13 reports, from the Committee on Rules: 14 Assembly Bill Number 10741, by 15 Member of the Assembly Abbate, an act to amend 16 Chapter 104 of the Laws of 2005; 17 By Member of the Assembly 18 Schroeder, Assembly Print Number 10853B, an 19 act to amend the Executive Law; 20 Senate Print 7800, by Senator 21 Squadron, an act to amend the Public Housing 22 Law; 23 And Senate Print 7860, by Senator 24 Addabbo, an act to amend the Election Law. 25 All bills ordered direct to third

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 reading. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: All 3 those in favor of adopting the report of the 4 Rules Committee signify by saying aye. 5 (Response of "Aye.") 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 7 Opposed, nay. 8 (No response.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 10 Rules Committee report is adopted. 11 Senator Klein. 12 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 13 this time can we please go to a reading of the 14 calendar. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 16 Secretary will proceed with a reading of the 17 noncontroversial calendar. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 243, by Member of the Assembly Cook -- 20 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay the bill 21 aside for the day, please. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 23 bill is laid aside for the day. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 457, by Assemblymember Gordon, Assembly Print

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Number 7987B, an act to amend the Public 2 Service Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 4 the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 11 Senator Young, to explain her vote. 12 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, 13 Mr. President. 14 We know in this chamber that our 15 dairy farmers have been suffering mightily for 16 the last two years because of low milk prices, 17 but this bill provides a great new economic 18 opportunity to them. It lets dairy farmers 19 sell renewable energy generated by 20 agricultural waste back to the electrical 21 grid. 22 Allowing farmers to better 23 participate in the commercial energy market is 24 good for the economy, and it's good for the 25 environment. And for those reasons, I'm

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 voting yell. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 3 Senator Young to be recorded in the 4 affirmative. 5 Announce the results. 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 8 bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 605, by Member of the Assembly Kavanagh, 11 Assembly Print Number 620, an act to amend the 12 General Business Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 14 the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 18 the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 22 bill is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 606, substituted earlier today by 25 Assemblymember Rosenthal, Assembly Print

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Number 10226, an act to amend the Real 2 Property Actions and Proceedings Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 4 the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 11 Calendar Number 606, Senator Winner to be 12 recorded in the negative. 13 Ayes, 60. Nays, 1. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 15 bill is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 621, by Senator Savino, Senate Print 4563C, an 18 act to amend the Retirement and Social 19 Security Law. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 25 the roll.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 3 Announce the results. 4 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 5 Calendar Number 621, those recorded in the 6 negative: Senators Griffo, C. Johnson, 7 Marcellino, Ranzenhofer, Skelos, Winner and 8 Young. Also Senator Robach. Also Senator 9 Saland. Also Senator Larkin. 10 Ayes, 51. Nays, 10. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 12 bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 626, by Member of the Assembly Gibson, 15 Assembly Print Number 10705, an act to amend 16 Chapter 777 of the Laws of 1986. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 18 the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 627, by Member of the Assembly Camara, 4 Assembly Print Number 10728, an act to amend 5 Chapter 613 of the Laws of 1996. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 7 the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 15 bill is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 628, by Senator Espada, Senate Print 6971, an 18 act to amend Chapter 84 of the Laws of 1993. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 20 the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 24 the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 3 bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 655, by Senator Foley, Senate Print 7444, an 6 act to amend the Banking Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 8 the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 16 bill is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 657, by Senator Stavisky, Senate Print 7747, 19 an act to amend Chapter 31 of the Laws of 20 1985. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 22 the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 5 bill is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 658, by Member of the Assembly Bing, Assembly 8 Print Number 10118, an act to amend Chapter 9 219 of the Laws of 2003. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 11 the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 19 bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 659, by Senator Stavisky, Senate Print 7750, 22 an act to amend Chapter 57 of the Laws of 23 2005. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 25 the last section.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 4 the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 8 bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 892, by Senator Breslin, Senate Print 7000B, 11 an act to amend the Insurance Law and the 12 Public Health Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 14 the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 18 the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 21 Senator Breslin, to explain his vote. 22 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you very 23 much, Mr. President. 24 This legislation I believe is 25 landmark. It completes a long, detailed

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 period of time wherein advocates for autism, 2 the Departments of Mental Health, Office of 3 Mental Retardation and Developmental 4 Disabilities, the Department of Health, and 5 the Insurance Department were in continuing 6 dialogue. There was a full-day hearing in 7 October. And there was -- I found, as I said 8 at a press conference earlier, I found there 9 was as many different points of view on autism 10 and the way to treat autism I think at least 11 as there are states in this country. 12 But I believe this bill is the 13 proper middle ground. It will allow for 14 screening, diagnosis, and treatment of the 15 autism spectrum disorder. It has no monetary 16 caps, it has no age limits, but it is 17 restricted in a way, because the treatments 18 must be clinically acceptable, must meet the 19 challenges of the medical profession to really 20 work and really perform their function. 21 And the kinds of treatment will be 22 determined by the Department of Health, which 23 will be given 12 months to come up with a 24 formula for treatments, and they'll be in 25 consultation with the Office of Mental

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 2 the Office of Mental Health, and the Insurance 3 Department. 4 And I believe that this bill, long 5 overdue, will finally begin to treat autism in 6 the way it should be treated -- at an early 7 age, an age when we can do a great deal 8 medically. And it will be forgiving for those 9 people who are challenged financially and will 10 have kind of an equal platform and an equal 11 ability for people to get treatment. 12 I look forward to the day when this 13 passes the Assembly, which I believe will be 14 within days, and the Governor signing it. And 15 accordingly, I will be voted in the 16 affirmative. 17 Thank you, Mr. President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 19 Senator Breslin to be recorded in the 20 affirmative. 21 Senator Fuschillo, to explain his 22 vote. 23 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you 24 very much, Mr. President. 25 I want to thank Senator Breslin,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 working with your office, and Senator McDonald 2 for his leadership. 3 It wasn't too long ago that I stood 4 in the driveway of a neighbor of mine who has 5 a young autistic boy with Senator Johnson, 6 Assemblyman Weisenberg, and other colleagues 7 in the Assembly, where we had firsthand that 8 he had to refinance his house, take out a 9 second mortgage because it cost him about 10 $80,000 a year to provide for the proper 11 treatment for his son with autism. 12 But today, this legislation now 13 doesn't allow families to choose between going 14 broke or providing treatment for their kids. 15 Now, living with autism, as Diane Cahill said 16 in a memo she sent us, is 24/7 for the 17 families. And now the screening, the 18 diagnosis and treatment will be covered here 19 in New York State. 20 It's a great day for the families 21 who have children with autism; it's a great 22 day for New York State. I'll be voting in the 23 affirmative. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 25 Senator Fuschillo to be recorded in the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 affirmative. 2 Senator McDonald, to explain his 3 vote. 4 SENATOR McDONALD: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. 6 Thank you to all the leadership -- 7 Senator Breslin, Senator Fuschillo, Senator 8 Duane, all the folks that were involved in 9 this. Thank you to the advocates that have 10 been so patient and who came up here to 11 communicate with us the problems that they 12 face. And thank you to each and every 13 individual member for making this a major 14 issue, which it is. 15 I don't speak to you as a senator. 16 I'm speaking to you as a grandfather of two 17 autistic grandchildren, 5 and 7, two 18 grandsons. I don't have to look very far to 19 see the problems in the households or the 20 expenses. They're right in my own family 21 structure. 22 I'm fortunate; my family can help 23 my daughter and her husband in any financial 24 needs. But so many people don't have that 25 good fortune. This being New York and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 America, nobody gets left behind. And this is 2 the very beginning of a program, an autism and 3 similar disabilities program that we'll be 4 adding to. 5 And as was stated earlier, there's 6 so many different opinions on what kind of 7 bill or legislation this should have been. 8 It's very difficult. Something was better 9 than nothing. And this was the beginning that 10 gives hope to those people, that 1 out of 90 11 people right now who are being diagnosed with 12 this problem as they're born. 13 These children grow into adults, 14 and we as dedicated human beings will be with 15 them to the end of their lives, helping them 16 out. I hope and pray that we'll solve some of 17 these health issues and mental issues, but we 18 may not. So they look to us. And I'm proud 19 of all of us -- regardless of the party 20 affiliation, regardless of various opinions -- 21 of staying together and doing something for 22 the kind of people that we're here for, 23 helping the people who can't help themselves. 24 So as more than a senator, as a 25 grandfather, I want to thank you.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 2 Senator McDonald to be recorded in the 3 affirmative. 4 Senator Craig Johnson, to explain 5 his vote. 6 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Thank 7 you, Mr. President. I too rise today to 8 support this piece of landmark legislation. 9 First let me thank the bill's 10 sponsor and chairman of the Insurance 11 Committee, Neil Breslin. Over the past year, 12 Senator Breslin and Senator Duane have been 13 working with Senator Fuschillo, Senator 14 McDonald and myself to put together this 15 comprehensive piece of legislation. 16 Many of us in this Senate chamber 17 have sponsored or cosponsored a variety of 18 pieces of legislation, and finally we were 19 able to put together a single piece of 20 legislation that will enable our friends and 21 our family and our constituents, those who 22 have children or young adults who suffer on 23 the autism spectrum disorder, finally give 24 them the ability to finally get them the 25 insurance coverage that they so desperately

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 need. 2 It's incredible. If you ask 3 anyone, anyone who has a child with an autism 4 spectrum disorder, they'll tell you how tough 5 their life can be, how rewarding it can be but 6 how tough it can be. And that time and the 7 extra care that's involved in helping their 8 child is all-encompassing. It's also very, 9 very expensive. 10 Senator Fuschillo talks about his 11 friend whose home we visited over last summer. 12 And he told us the story about how he had to 13 refinance his home. Unfortunately, that's all 14 too common with families whose children suffer 15 from autism. They have to refinance their 16 homes, they have to take second and third jobs 17 in order to pay for the tens of thousands of 18 dollars it costs to provide the treatment, the 19 diagnosis and the treatment for these 20 children. 21 And what's really, really troubling 22 is that insurance companies are supposed to be 23 there to help families in times of crisis. 24 That's part of the compact that we make with 25 them when we pay the premiums, the insurance

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 premiums. And in my view, it has become 2 unconscionable and unacceptable for these 3 companies to sit back and deny coverage to 4 those families. 5 In fact, today -- today -- I sat 6 with insurance executives who said that autism 7 wasn't a medical condition. How outrageous is 8 that? 9 Well, finally we have a piece of 10 legislation that will pass today, that will 11 hopefully pass the Assembly and then be signed 12 by our Governor that will give that protection 13 and that coverage to those families. 14 We know the instances of autism are 15 increasing and they're increasing at an 16 alarming rate. And as Senator Fuschillo and 17 Senator Marcellino and Senator Hannon and the 18 other Senators from Long Island know, the 19 rates of autism on Long Island are staggering. 20 But finally, today, we can start 21 that process of protecting and helping those 22 families all across New York State who are 23 facing this very, very difficult time. 24 So again, Senator Breslin, I thank 25 you for your leadership on this issue. I

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 thank all my colleagues who will be supporting 2 this bill. I vote yes today, Senator. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 4 Senator Craig Johnson to be recorded in the 5 affirmative. 6 Senator Seward to explain his vote. 7 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. 9 You know, back in 2007 this 10 Legislature used very good judgment in 11 creating what's called the Healthcare Quality 12 and Cost Containment Commission, the so-called 13 Mandate Commission, whose responsibility is to 14 review mandates that come in the form of 15 legislation. And this is a new mandate on 16 health insurance policies in New York State. 17 However, unfortunately, because the Assembly 18 has yet to appoint their two members of this 19 commission, here we are in 2010, this 20 commission is not functioning. 21 A bill like this, it seems to me, 22 is appropriately sent through this commission 23 so we would have detailed information 24 regarding the costs and the true benefits of a 25 proposal like this. Because quite frankly,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Mr. President, here we are, we don't know what 2 this mandate is going to cost in terms of 3 health insurance premiums. The advocates say 4 less than a percent. But the Insurance 5 Department has indicated that without age or 6 dollar caps, which this bill does not have, it 7 could be as high as a 2 percent increase in 8 premiums. 9 Unfortunately, that means that 10 60,000 New Yorkers -- 1 percent equals 30,000 11 New Yorkers -- dropping health insurance 12 because of not being able to afford it any 13 longer. So a 2 percent increase would mean 14 that 60,000 New Yorkers will not be able to 15 afford health insurance because of this 16 legislation, if that formula is correct. 17 So, Mr. President, I'm disappointed 18 that more steps weren't taken in the 19 legislation to try to bring that number down, 20 such as age and dollar caps. I'm disappointed 21 that the legislation does not include language 22 that would coordinate services for those with 23 autism. Coordination of benefits is very much 24 needed. 25 I believe that the legislation

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 should require parents to disclose to insurers 2 what early intervention services are already 3 being provided to a child to ensure that there 4 are no duplication of services so that either 5 health insurance premium dollars or taxpayer 6 dollars are not being wasted, that we have a 7 true coordination of services. 8 I'm hoping that either through 9 future amendments or through the regulatory 10 process at the Insurance Department that some 11 of these omissions in the bill can be 12 corrected so at the end of the day, 13 Mr. President, we can have a piece of 14 legislation and a law and policy in the State 15 of New York so that those families that do 16 have autism among their children can receive 17 the vital services at a rate that both health 18 insurance premium payers and taxpayers can 19 afford. That would be certainly a very worthy 20 goal. 21 But in the meantime, Mr. President, 22 I will be supporting the bill because I think 23 this is a start. But there is more work to be 24 done in improving services but also making it 25 available at a rate that both health insurance

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 premium payers and taxpayers can afford. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 3 Senator Seward to be recorded in the 4 affirmative. 5 Senator Volker, to explain his 6 vote. 7 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 8 this was a particularly disturbing bill for me 9 because I was a cosponsor on the bill and 10 proceeded, after I was a cosponsor, to read a 11 great deal about the issue of costs and all 12 the rest of the things that were put out by 13 the various companies and -- not just 14 insurance companies, but other people. 15 But then I went on and I admit to 16 you that I voted against the bill in Finance 17 simply because, after reading the information, 18 I was concerned that we would have in our 19 midst another Timothy's Law. Because if it 20 wasn't for Senator Libous, Timothy's Law would 21 have gone off and cost us an enormous amount 22 of money as the Assembly sent it over to us. 23 And we worked on it and kept it from 24 overwhelming the insurance industry. 25 But then I began to read through

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 this bill, talked to Senator Breslin and 2 talked to other people, and I realized there 3 are, I believe, curbs in this bill that will 4 allow it not to create such a problem for the 5 insurance industry that it would overwhelm our 6 costs. 7 We have to understand something. 8 We've passed a number of bills this year that 9 clearly are going to increase the cost of 10 insurance. We must remember that our friends 11 in Washington are breaking the bank. They're 12 trying to tell us that what they did in 13 Washington is not going to raise the cost of 14 insurance. Of course it's going to raise the 15 cost of insurance. Everybody privately admits 16 that. First of all, it's going to cost 17 New York enormous amounts of money and 18 billions of dollars in Medicaid and all that 19 sort of thing. 20 But this bill, autism is such a 21 difficult area. And I must confess I have my 22 son Marty, who is a professor of psychology at 23 SUNY Buffalo, and his wife, who are both 24 professors of psychology, and their main area 25 is autism. They've been studying it for

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 years. And I am the first to admit to you 2 that I spoke to them and not just, you know, 3 saying to them do you think this is necessary. 4 Of course it's necessary. The issue really 5 is, is this bill so broad that it would create 6 a major problem for the insurance companies. 7 And Senator Breslin, Senator 8 Fuschillo, Senator McDonald, the general 9 consensus is that it will not and that the 10 bill has enough curbs in it -- I won't say 11 curbs, but at least controls -- that it will 12 allow the insurance companies to deal with 13 this bill and at the same time will allow 14 people who are looking at the autism area to 15 bring down, hopefully, the cost of autism by 16 treating it at the earliest possible age. 17 Because one of the big problems is 18 we don't get to autism until it's at a stage 19 where it's very difficult to deal with. So if 20 you can get young people involved in autism 21 and find out that it's really a problem, it's 22 much, much less expensive and much easier to 23 deal with. 24 So I admit to you that I've 25 agonized with this bill, as I have with a lot

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 of bills in healthcare, because we really have 2 to be careful in healthcare. But the 3 consensus, after thinking about it, is that 4 this is a good bill and I think we should all 5 vote for it. And I am going to vote for it. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 7 Senator Volker to be recorded in the 8 affirmative. 9 Senator LaValle, to explain his 10 vote. 11 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 Today is indeed a great day, a 14 great day for parents who have children with 15 autism. For me, I became sensitized to this 16 issue through a very dear and close friend, 17 one of my best friends, Matt Cody, who has 18 established at the State University at Stony 19 Brook the Cody Center that deals with autism. 20 Matt and Debra Cody have three 21 children who are autistic. And the Cody 22 Center has been designated as a Center of 23 Excellence in dealing with autism. We in this 24 Legislature did that by legislation. 25 I would say to you that in the last

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 number of years I've established a task force 2 in Suffolk County to deal with this issue. 3 Senator Morahan has been very active with our 4 task force in trying to look at the many 5 facets that affect families who have autistic 6 children. 7 I can tell you that it is an issue 8 for families that is very penetrating. It's 9 not only in dealing with the children but, as 10 a result of that, how it affects 11 relationships, how it even affects how parents 12 will over a long haul interact with those 13 students. 14 One of the issues at the Cody 15 Center, which we have people from all over 16 Long Island coming to the center, is an 17 insurance issue on the screening and the 18 diagnosis of it. That needs to be done early 19 on because if we don't know all of the 20 dimensions of this illness, then we cannot get 21 the proper treatment as early as we can. 22 Insurance, insurance becomes the issue that 23 prevents many families from getting the kind 24 of attention that they should be getting. 25 For those of us on Long Island, the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Cody Center is a jewel. It is a wonderful 2 thing. With insurance, if this bill passes 3 the Assembly and gets signed, I will tell you 4 that children in our area, and families, will 5 be able to get early on the kind of guidance 6 that they need at the earliest possible time. 7 Last comment, and it goes to 8 something that Senator Volker talked about, 9 and Senator Seward. I've had many bills 10 dealing with providing, within the health 11 insurance contract, a specific provision. It 12 is so difficult to get the health insurance 13 industry to come to the table and deal with 14 you in a fair way. We hear all sorts of 15 costs. 16 And, you know, the most ironic 17 thing, if we look at the history of where the 18 industry was and what the reality is after we 19 pass the law, it's like a miracle happened. 20 Dollars just withered away because it really 21 did not affect the policy and the policyholder 22 to the point that the industry indicated. 23 So there are a lot of bills -- 24 we've had some dealing with cancer treatments, 25 and today we're talking about autism. I think

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that the industry needs to be realistic that 2 we need to provide for our citizens these 3 treatments. And we don't even know, Senator 4 Breslin, how federal law in terms of health 5 insurance will really apply to these 6 instances. 7 So I think we can be very proud as 8 a Senate today in passing this bill, and I 9 will be voting, obviously, in the affirmative. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 11 Senator LaValle to be recorded in the 12 affirmative. 13 Senator Liz Krueger, to explain her 14 vote. 15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you 16 very much. 17 Today the Senate continues a very 18 good week for consumers of healthcare in 19 New York State. 20 There's not one of us, I suspect, 21 who doesn't have friends or families who have 22 had a child with autism or one of the related 23 spectrums. There's not one of us who doesn't 24 know the stories of families not being able to 25 provide the services that they know will help

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 their family member because they can't get 2 insurance coverage. And I suspect most of us 3 know at this point this time that the 4 number-one reason for bankruptcies and for 5 foreclosures in this country are people's 6 inability to pay their medical bills, people 7 with insurance not being able to pay their 8 medical bills and facing the trauma of do you 9 pay for your housing, do you pay for your 10 healthcare, do you go to bankruptcy court 11 because you can't get the services you and you 12 your family so desperately need. 13 And so in a country where we have a 14 lot of struggles still to ensure that we have 15 access to healthcare for all, that we have a 16 system of health insurance that assures that 17 when you have health insurance it's there for 18 you when you need it, when your family members 19 need it, this is an extremely important bill. 20 I know it was a struggle. I know 21 Senator Breslin worked very hard on trying to 22 balance all the different competing needs and 23 the recognition that this is such a complex 24 spectrum of disorders and illness and outcomes 25 for children and adults, and the struggles

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 between differing opinions even on what this 2 piece of legislation should be. 3 The fact that we're here today and 4 passing this bill is another major, major 5 victory for families in the State of New York 6 who may not know it yet but might sometime 7 soon find themselves giving birth to a child 8 with autism and facing the reality that their 9 child will have in fact a lifetime of special 10 needs, health and educational and behavioral. 11 And that finally in the State of New York, if 12 you have insurance coverage, it's going to 13 help address those needs. 14 So thank you, Senator Breslin. And 15 I know that we're all going to be able to walk 16 away today having voted for this bill saying 17 "Today I made a difference in people's lives." 18 I'll vote yes. Thank you very 19 much, Senator. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 21 Senator Liz Krueger to be recorded in the 22 affirmative. 23 Senator DeFrancisco, to explain his 24 vote. 25 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Mr. President. 2 As a cosponsor of this bill, I 3 obviously, along with everyone else in this 4 chamber, had to make a decision about weighing 5 various interests that we do in every piece of 6 legislation. Obviously we want to make 7 healthcare affordable and we don't want to 8 move people out of the healthcare insurance 9 that they have because they can't afford it. 10 But on the other hand, we want the healthcare 11 insurance to do what it's supposed to do; 12 namely, provide for those conditions that are 13 necessary to be provided for. 14 We went through this weighing 15 process in Timothy's Law and ultimately came 16 out with a bill. 17 With respect to autism, the one 18 thing I know is clear, and that is the earlier 19 there is a diagnosis and a plan for the child 20 with autism, the better the outcome. Now, 21 from an emotional standpoint, for the success 22 of that child, obviously we've got to diagnose 23 as early as possible. And this bill will 24 provide for the coverage to make sure that 25 that happens and people don't not get a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 diagnosis simply because they don't have 2 insurance to do it. 3 And in the long run, as far as I'm 4 concerned, if even we're just talking dollars 5 and cents, it's going to be the best situation 6 financially. If you make this child -- if you 7 allow this child to be diagnosed early and 8 their outcome is much better, in the long run 9 the cost to society is going to be 10 substantially less. So those who are 11 concerned about the cost, I think that's the 12 way you've got to weigh it. 13 More importantly is the outcome for 14 the child. There's no one in this chamber 15 that doesn't know of someone or have a family 16 member that's been affected by this autism, no 17 matter what segment of the spectrum of autism 18 you're talking about. 19 So I agree this is a landmark bill, 20 and I'm proud to be a cosponsor. And it's the 21 right thing to do. And hopefully we'll be 22 able to help many of the children who have 23 this horrible condition to be the best that 24 they can possibly be by early diagnosis and an 25 early plan for treatment.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 I vote aye, Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 3 Senator DeFrancisco to be recorded in the 4 affirmative. 5 Senator Stewart-Cousins, to explain 6 her vote. 7 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Yes, 8 thank you, Mr. President. 9 I rise certainly to congratulate my 10 colleague Senator Breslin, because I know how 11 difficult it was to navigate the waters to get 12 to this point. 13 I too am a cosponsor of the bill. 14 And somewhere along the road between 15 cosponsorship and now, there were a number of 16 issues that came up, many people who seemed to 17 be a little bit concerned that this bill might 18 ignore some of the other therapies that would 19 be available. 20 I think that this bill is a very 21 big step on a very, very important road. I 22 think that it leads the way. I think that it 23 allows people who otherwise would not be 24 covered to be covered. It allows, as many of 25 my colleagues said, for that early diagnosis.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 And it also allows for our continued 2 evaluation and evolution as different 3 therapies that work come to our attention. It 4 is so important. 5 One of the earliest remembrances I 6 have in the Senate was getting a visit by 7 parents, a community called BRO. It's an 8 acronym. But these parents were worried about 9 their children who were 40, 50, really aging, 10 and wondering what would happen to these 11 children should they no longer be available. 12 I spoke to a couple of mothers who 13 had autistic adult children, 50-year-old 14 autistic children, and they told me when their 15 children were growing up there was no 16 diagnosis, there was no real understanding of 17 this. There were so few people who had 18 autism, they really just had to do what they 19 could, put together things hoping that 20 something along the way would help and that 21 their kids would be provided for. 22 Luckily, as we evolved, there were 23 different places. A lot of these parents had 24 children in group homes and so on. But how 25 much better off they would be, one wonders, if

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 they been screened earlier, if they had been 2 diagnosed earlier, if someone knew that there 3 were options and opportunities and that the 4 treatment could be covered by insurance. 5 So I'm very happy to be standing 6 here supporting this bill, knowing that we 7 have evolved, we have a situation that 8 requires our attention, it requires coverage, 9 it requires support of the family, it requires 10 a society that knows and cares and finds ways 11 to make sure that families are not somehow 12 ignored as they try and meet the needs of 13 their children and loved ones. 14 So certainly I will be voting yes. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 16 Senator Stewart-Cousins to be recorded in the 17 affirmative. 18 Senator Foley, to explain his vote. 19 SENATOR FOLEY: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 I stand in strong support of this 22 particular legislation. And as a cosponsor, I 23 wish to thank Senator Breslin for his great 24 leadership. 25 When people look at back at this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 particular legislative session, this piece of 2 legislation will stand out as one of the 3 finest examples of progressive, far-reaching 4 legislation that will impact the everyday 5 lives of thousands of families here in 6 New York. I couldn't think of a greater 7 reason why any of us became involved in public 8 service than for days and votes like this 9 today. 10 I heard from hundreds of families 11 in Suffolk County who have been looking for 12 leadership from this State Legislature over a 13 number of years. And today, in this session, 14 on this day, we're going to demonstrate that 15 leadership by showing that we care, that we 16 listened, that the leadership of this Senate 17 has helped to craft legislation that is among 18 the finest of its kind anywhere in our 19 country. 20 I think what really speaks to the 21 strength of the policy and of this particular 22 law, Mr. President, is the fact that at 23 today's press conference we had members of 24 both parties from this Senate but also from 25 the State Assembly, which I think has been a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 rarity to have that kind of press conference. 2 It speaks to the power of the issue, it speaks 3 to the unanimity of effort that we all see 4 when we can join forces to craft legislation 5 that will in fact make a real difference in 6 the lives of families, of parents, and of 7 those young people who so greatly need our 8 help. 9 Once again, I'll be supporting the 10 bill. And thank you, Mr. President. And 11 thank you again, Senator Breslin. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 13 Senator Foley to be recorded in the 14 affirmative. 15 The Secretary will announce the 16 results. 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. Nays, 18 0. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 20 bill is passed. 21 Senator Klein, that completes the 22 reading of the noncontroversial calendar. 23 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 24 this time can we please go to a reading of the 25 supplemental calendar.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 2 Secretary will proceed with the reading of 3 Senate Supplemental Calendar 60A. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 937, by Member of the Assembly Abbate, 6 Assembly Print Number 10741, an act to amend 7 Chapter 104 of the Laws of 2005. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 9 the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 17 bill is passed. 18 Senator Klein, that completes the 19 reading of Senate Supplemental Calendar 60A. 20 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 21 this time can we please go to a reading of the 22 supplemental active list. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 Secretary will proceed with the reading of the 25 supplemental active list.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 344, by Member of the Assembly Hoyt, Assembly 3 Print Number 9070A, an act to amend the Real 4 Property Law. 5 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay the bill 6 aside for the day, please. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 8 bill is laid aside for the day. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 496, by Member of the Assembly Zebrowski, 11 Assembly Print Number 3762, an act to amend 12 the Penal Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 14 the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 18 the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 22 bill is passed. 23 Senator Klein, that completes the 24 reading of the Senate supplemental active 25 list.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 2 before we move on, I want to recognize a 3 special day today. Besides passing landmark 4 legislation, it's also one of our colleague's, 5 Senator Breslin's, birthday today. 6 (Applause.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Happy 8 birthday, Senator Breslin. 9 (Applause.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 11 Senator Padavan, why do you rise? 12 SENATOR PADAVAN: For some reason 13 you didn't notice my negative vote on that 14 bill, Calendar Number 496. I wish to be 15 recorded as such. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 17 Senator Padavan to be recorded in the negative 18 on Calendar Number 496. 19 Senator Klein. 20 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 21 would you recognize Senator Volker, please. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 23 Senator Volker. 24 SENATOR VOLKER: The bill that 25 just was laid aside, Calendar Number 344,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 7170A, I would like that bill starred because 2 there's going to be an amendment to it. 3 Rather than have it sit there, I'd like to 4 star the bill. Okay? Thank you. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: A 6 sponsor's star will be placed on Calendar 7 Number 344. 8 Senator Klein. 9 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 10 are there any substitutions at the desk? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Yes, 12 there are, Senator Klein. 13 The Secretary will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 15 Calendar Number 939, Senator Squadron moves to 16 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 17 Assembly Bill Number 9757 and substitute it 18 for the identical Senate Bill Number 7800, 19 Third Reading Calendar 939. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 21 Substitution ordered. 22 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 23 Calendar Number 940, Senator Addabbo moves to 24 discharge, from the Committee on Elections, 25 Assembly Bill Number 10946 and substitute it

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 for the identical Senate Bill Number 7860, 2 Third Reading Calendar 940. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 4 Substitution ordered. 5 Senator Klein. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, is 7 there any further business at the desk? 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 9 desk is clear. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: There being no 11 further business, Mr. President, I move that 12 we adjourn until Thursday, June 10th, at 13 11:00 a.m. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: On 15 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 16 Thursday, June 10th, at 11:00 a.m. 17 (Whereupon, at 5:23 p.m., the 18 Senate adjourned.) 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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